Moving on
by KebbyElizabeth
Summary: 'I can't love you while you love her,' - Focus on Buffy and Willow after they blow up Sunnydale M/M F/F F/M Dark themes and violence, changed the rating to T, there may be some M moments, they will be marked R&R
1. Prolouge

**A/N Short prologue, basically this is going to be my version of what happens after they finally succeed in blowing up Sunnydale, the first part is lifted from the show, with my bits added in to turn it into the story, but the rest will be mostly my idea. I hope you enjoy, review please 3**

The dust from the crater that used to be Sunnydale hadn't even settled when Rupert Giles, glasses askew, began rounding up the girls and herding them back onto the bus. The bruised and battered Scooby Gang, Faith and Kennedy ignored their protests and stared over the wreckage of what used to be their home.

Giles returned from the bus and wiped his glasses on a somewhat bloody handkerchief before setting them high on his nose. He frowned at the way they still didn't sit straight.

"All those stores gone... The Gap, Starbucks, Toys R Us... who will remember these landmarks unless we tell the world of them?" Xander said in reply to Dawn complaining about blowing up the mall.

"Yes, well there is still a lot of work to be done," Giles pointed out quietly.

Faith jerked her head up and narrowed her eyes at him. "Can I push him in?"

Willow looked at him over Kennedys shoulder and poked him with the tip of her finger, nudging him in the general direction of the gaping hole. "You got my vote," she mumbled.

"I just want to go to sleep, y'know, for like a week," Faith sighed.

Dawn wrinkled her nose and crossed her arms over her chest. "You know we actually could if we wanted to." She picked at a hold in her shirt but recoiled at the blood that wasn't hers staining the edges.

The group was quiet for a moment, Kennedy lightly picking pieces of debris out of Willows dull and dusty hair. "Yeah," Willow continued. "The first is all smushed, so... what do you think we should do now Buffy?"

"Yeah, you and me aren't the only chosen anymore B, just gotta live like a person now. How's that feel?"

The blonde didn't reply straight away, she was too busy scanning the ruins for any recognisable sign that would show her that it was still the place she had grown up in for the last seven years. Seven years, had it really been that long? She glanced over at the red head that was having a quiet conversation with her girlfriend, seven years since Willow was an innocent, mousey computer hacker. Xander moved into her view, seven years since he had been a socially awkward boy, now he was a heartbroken solider who had grown into a troubled man. Seven years since Giles had been Mister Watcher man, now he was more of a father to her than her own dad had ever been. Everything had changed so much.

"Buffy?" Dawn interrupted her thought process. "What _are _we going to do now?"

The slayer looks at them all, broken, bruised, scarred and then moved her eyes back to the hell hole. A small smile crept onto her lips. "We celebrate," she says. When everyone looked at her in confusion her smile got a little wider. "We won guys, and seriously, I need a new wardrobe," she gestured to her slashed, bloodied and burnt clothes and grinned.

Kennedy was the first to mirror her smile. She hoists Willow into her arms and bridal carries her back to the bus, laughing loudly, pointedly ignoring Willows orders to _put her__** down**_. Daw grins and wraps an arm around Buffy's waist; she was taller than her sister but at the moment she didn't care, and was quite content to be led away toward the bus by the young woman. Giles, Faith and Xander are quite to join them and the unlikely group file onto the bus and, after one last look at what was their home, begin to drive away in search of their new life, and the new slayers that would have to be found.

They eventually made their way to Los Angeles and Angel immediately put them up. The Scooby's and Slayers were exhausted, the events of the war finally taking a toll on their bodies. It didn't matter how much they resembled super heroes, they were shattered and hurt and after the adrenaline had finally run out they could barely stand upright on their own.

Wesley, Fred, Cordelia and Faith busied themselves with wounds that still hadn't been seen to (with much complaint from Cordelia) and the ones who were worst off were given any bed that could be spared. Willow and Kennedy curled themselves into a ball onto one end of the sofa, while Dawn stole the other and Xander was content to lie on his back on the floor with the last two or three girls who weren't seriously injured, he daren't fall asleep for fear of Anya's face swimming before his eyes.

Buffy, Giles and Angel moved into a separate room so they could talk without waking anyone up.

"So much for celebrating," Buffy sighed, it wasn't a complaint because she was just as drained as the rest.

Giles smirked. "What are we going to do with them?"

Buffy shrugged, her thoughts still full of Spikes face in the last minutes of his life, and they made her shy away from Angel when he tried to lay a hand on her shoulder. "We could go to England."

Giles looked at her with a shocked expression.

"Well, that's where the last slayer central was, and since it went all boom we could start it up again, and make a better Watchers council, except we could name it something cool, like BuffyWorld..."

This brought a chuckle from both Angle and Giles. "Well I think we can work on the name, but England does sound like a good idea."

Buffy grinned.


	2. Ten months later

**A/N The first proper chapter of Moving on, and Dorian Windslasher I have only just started to watch angel, figuring that I might need to in case a need arises in my story, I didn't know Cordelia was in a coma, thanks for telling me x**

**Anyway onwards my trusty keyboard, for we have much to do.**

Chapter 1: 10 months later

Buffy

"Buffy!" Kennedy all but screamed.

"Oh no," the blonde sighed. She quickly snatched up any sharp object off the floor of her new training room and hid them behind a pile of mats before turning to face the rampaging slayer.

Giles and Buffy had agreed to leave the majority of the mini slayers back in Los Angeles with Angel, partly because Angel could use some back up with the ever increasing demon activity now that the closest hellmouth was closed, but mostly because Giles complained about how much it would cost to bring them all to England with them.

Kennedy had obviously been the exception, being Willow's girlfriend and because she was one of the more athletically able mini slayers – she took to training the new recruits until Buffy and Giles finished setting up an efficient system to run their new council.

"Kennedy," Buffy nodded in greeting.

The hot tempered slayer stood with her hands on her hips in the doorway with a look fit to kill. Buffy could already feel the headache forming. "Hannah broke my new staff!" she fumed. "The one we just replaced after Frankie broke my last one!"

"Here's a thought Kennedy: stop giving the new slayers your staff's," the blonde slayer pinched the bridge of her nose, at this rate they were going to have to set up a link with the woodcutters directly just to supply enough wood to keep Kennedy satisfied. "This is the fourth one in two weeks you have managed to break."

"I didn't break it," Kennedy snapped. "Hannah did."

"Go see Willow."

Buffy could practically hear the steam billow out of the young slayers ears. She knew that Willow was the only one who even had a hope of calming her down, and the headache she was getting told her that an argument with Kennedy was a bad idea. The brunette opened her mouth as though she was going to continue fighting, but she shut it quickly and left – slamming the door behind her.

"I am so going to buy her some stress toy... or I would if I didn't think she'd use it to suffocate me," she mumbled to herself as she went to retrieve the weapons from their hiding spot.

Hannah was their newest mini slayer, as Buffy had officially nicknamed the new recruits, and she wasn't exactly what you would call fighter material. Her dyed blue hair made her hard to miss, and she spent more time on her arse on the floor than she did winning any fights. Buffy felt a little guilty for leaving her with Kennedy but, as much as she hated to admit it, after Giles and herself, Kennedy was the best none magical fighter of all of them.

She sighed and began hanging the sharp objects back on the wall and generally tidying her training room. Her mind started to wonder as she tied the more lethal items to the hooks placed along the far side of the room. They didn't see much of Xander anymore, and she missed him more than she liked to let on. He had taken four mini slayers and left for London only three or so months after they had found this large mansion-type building in the middle of the Cornish countryside. At first he had protested fiercely at accessing Anya's bank accounts, but after a quiet conversation with Willow he had reluctantly agreed. He left not long after.

When everything was secure she grabbed her towel, wrapped it around her shoulders, and locked the door behind her. Finger shaped dents in the door handle reminded her that she needed to talk to Giles about getting some new staffs for the mini slayers.

"B, wait up," Faith called from behind her.

"Hmm, what?" Buffy said, snapping out of her thoughts. She turned to face the dark haired woman. "Oh hey Faith, what's up?"

"I heard shatter of glass worthy screaming, everything okay?"

Buffy rolled her eyes and sniffed. "Just Kennedy complaining, how's everything downstairs?"

Downstairs referred to the horde of demons they kept in cells in the basement, Faith was in charge of keeping them in line and alive until such a time as Kennedy used them for training. At first Buffy had been completely against the idea, but Faith and Kennedy snuck the demons in secretly anyway, so in the end she figured it would be safer for everyone if there was a secure area for them.

"It's all five-by-five boss," she replied.

"Faith, are you ever going to tell us what that even means?" Buffy asked for what had to be the hundredth time.

The brunette just grinned. "We caught a Blackth demon snooping around the stores yesterday evening, actually I'm meant to be taking it to Kennedy in about an hour – but if she's in a bad mood it might not be a good idea."

"Yeah, Giles will snap his glasses in half if we get Blackth blood all over the wood again, that stuff just doesn't come out," she laughed.

Faith winked and waved as she strode back toward the basement stairs that were just down the corridor from the training room. The blonde watched as the slightly younger woman walked away, her hips swayed with every step and her clothes clung to every curve. She had no idea how she managed to kick demons in the face in pants as tight as them.

-x-

Giles's office was the first on the left on the second floor, along with the group's bedrooms while all the mini slayers slept on the third and fourth floors. The mansion really was huge and it was only due to Anya's impeccable financing that they were able to afford it. A sad smile appeared on Buffy's face as she remembered the quick talking blonde.

She knocked twice and entered without waiting for Giles's reply. "We need some new staff's in Kennedy's training room," she said without looking up. "She hit the roof about ten minutes ago because the mini... where are you going?"

Giles had a suitcase in one hand and a large book in the other. His passport and wallet were sticking out from his tweed jackets pocket and he had the look of a rabbit caught in headlights on his face. "Ah...Buffy, just the girl I wanted to see," he stammered.

She raised an eyebrow. "Where are you going?" she repeated.

"Ah yes... well there has been a message from Italy," he said.

"I thought Robin and Andrew had gone there."

He slowly placed the suitcase on the floor and placed the book on top of it so he could remove his new glasses and wipe them on a handkerchief. She pointed at his accusingly. "Don't do your uncomfortable thing! That's a bad thing! Why are you doing the thing?"

"I didn't want to worry you, we haven't heard from them in quite some time, and then this morning I got a message from Andrew – to be quite honest I couldn't make out most of it, but I got Willow to track down their signal and I'm taking some of the... mini slayers," he hesitated. "You're needed here, and I daren't trust the demon watching to anyone other than Faith really, or the Faith watching to anyone but you."

"If you die I will make Willow bring you back so I can slap you," Buffy pouted.

"Very well," Giles allowed a small smile to form. "I'll remember that when given the choice between life and death."

Buffy snorted. "Besides, I need your signature to order the new staff's."

And with that she left the room and Giles to go shower the sweat out of her hair.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Willow

"Slowly," Willow whispered gently as she took Dawn's hand and guided it over the salt circle. Purple sand dripped into figure of eight in the centre.

Dawn was easily a foot taller than the red head, but she still viewed the Wicca as a parent and was eager to please her. She followed Willow's instructions to the letter and allowed her to guide her hands over the circle, creating a spell that would temporarily allow the brunette to float a few inches above the ground.

"Buffy will kill you if she finds out you're teaching me magic," Dawn smirked as the sand began to glow.

"Pssh, she's not going to find out," Willow said playfully. "Now say Ego levior aere."

The girl repeated the words carefully to avoid a mispronunciation and accidently blowing a hole in the wall like she did last time. It had taken all of Willow's sweet talking abilities to calm the slayer down.

She let out a happy giggle when she felt her body relax and lift slightly off the ground. The red head smiled affectionately but sat ready to grab Dawn should she fly to high or head toward the window.

"Does it always feel this weird to not weigh anything?" Dawn asked as she rolled in the air.

Willow thought back to how floating had felt – she hadn't done it in such a long time, not since Tara had died. She felt the beginnings of tears sting her eyes, but she didn't want Dawn to see her crying so she quickly rubbed them with the back of her hand when Dawn wasn't looking.

"It feels so wonderful... so magical," Dawn continued.

This made Willow laugh. "Well yeah Dawnie, magic does tend to feel magical."

"Is this what birds feel like?"

The questions reminded the Wicca of when Dawn was younger, and constantly trying to join in on the demon fights and research. Now the little girl was a young adult – but that didn't stop her from being fascinated by the world around her.

"You might wanna turn around before the spell wares off and you land on that little head of yours," Willow reminded the brunette when she began to walk on the ceiling.

With a pout that bore a remarkable resemblance to her sisters she kicked off from the ceiling so that her feet were back underneath her just in time for her to fall five feet and land with a thump on the floor.

"Told ya," Willow smirked.

Dawn snorted but quickly got over her unladylike landing. "Can we do another one?"

"Maybe later, it's four, Buffy will be leaving her training room about..."

She was interrupted when a very pissed of slayer pushed the door open so that it hit the wall with a bang. Kennedy was mumbling furiously to herself and failed to see Dawn, or the circle of magic ingredients on the floor – she simply stalked past, grabbed Willows hand and dragged her into the adjoining bedroom.

"Kennedy?" Willow managed to stammer once she had gotten over the shock of her girlfriends sudden entrance. "I was kinda in the middle of something, is everything okay?"

For the first time since coming in Kennedy noticed the nervous looking brunette and the salt on the floor. "Oh... y'know Buffy's gonna..."

"Yeah flip if she knows I'm doing spells with Dawn, could you just give me a sec?" The red head smiled innocently before leaving the bedroom and shutting Kennedy inside. "Dawnie," she said with a slight whine to her voice. "Would you mind, urm, y'know... 'cus obviously Kennedy is all wound up... urm no, I mean in that she's stressed, not the sex... I mean, Dawn, and the salt..." she babbled, her cheeks quickly turning red.

The sight just made Dawn double over in fits of giggles. "Awrh Willow, I know about sex, I am seventeen, if you need me to leave you alone," she winked.

Willow went a shade of red that the brunette didn't even know was possible until that moment. She tried to speak but all that came out was a mouse like squeak.

"Fine, I'll go find Buffy," Dawn giggled.

The Wicca watched silently as the teenager left the room, thoroughly embarrassed by the last five minutes. She didn't hear the door open behind her and a half dressed slayer sneak out.

"You're so cute when you babble," she whispered huskily into the red heads ear.

Willow gave another squeak but soon relaxed when she felt the younger woman's hands settle on her stomach. It wasn't long before they made their way under her hem line and pulled the simple white shirt over the witches head and tossed it to the floor.

"Much better," Kennedy said slyly.

The older woman turned to face her lover with full intent on taking it straight to the bedroom, but a sudden wave of guilt washed over her and she hesitated. Hoping that Kennedy hadn't seen she looked up and smiled at the slayer – but naturally, nothing escaped the slayers eyes.

"What's wrong?" she asked, tilting her head slightly.

"Nothing," Willow replied quickly. "Come here."

Even though the slayer was much stronger than the fragile looking witch, she obeyed the order without question, content to forget the guilt she had seen in her lover's eyes for the moment. However, Willow couldn't help the sinking feeling that what she was doing was very, very wrong.

She barely felt Kennedy's teeth making their way down her neck, or her feet slowly moving them backwards into the bedroom. The slayer moved them awkwardly toward the bed, her mouth never leaving Willow's pulse point – she didn't notice that her lover's mind was elsewhere.

It wasn't the first time that Willow had felt this way before becoming intimate with her girlfriend but as much as she tried the feelings of betrayal wouldn't go away. She knew that there would always be a part of her that would be Tara's forever, and she had even had a conversation with Kennedy about it, though the slayer seemed barely interested in talking, and more in using her mouth for other purposes.

"Willow," Kennedy's muffled voice broke into her thoughts. "Take off your jeans."

The red head complied, unbuttoning the offending item and shimming out of them. The slayer rolled them over so Willow was on top and moved a hand round to undo the clasp of the witch's bra and claim ownership of the skin hidden beneath it.

Despite the nagging in the back of her mind Willow couldn't help but moan as Kennedy's tongue worked its way down her creamy flesh.

"Goddess," she breathed as the brunette's teeth grazed sensitive areas.

"I might not be a goddess," Kennedy smirked. "But don't I just rock?" she gave a satisfied nod when she drew another gasp from Willow.

Just as Kennedy's hot breath reached between Willows legs the red head felt something burning in her chest. A wave of emotion hit her like a bullet and tears leaked uncontrolled from her eye. That feeling, that long forgotten feeling. "Tara?" she whispered.

Kennedy's head shot up. "What did you just call me?"

**Ta-da, so whaddya think? Tell me in review form, the button is right there VV you know you want to ;) **


	3. Wishes and Wishful thinking

**A/N: Rawr, hello readers. I'd love to hear your ideas and views on this. Please review.**

Chapter 2: Wishes and wishful thinking

Buffy

The blonde woman gingerly opened the bathroom door allowing the steam to billow out in huge clouds, and more importantly the cold air to gush in. Violent shivers racked her thin frame and she tugged the towel tighter around her damp skin.

"Who invented cold?" she mumbled. "I wonder if I can get Willow to do the temporal fold thing and go slay them."

The thought brought a small smile to her lips. She would never ask Willow to do such a thing, but there was a certain appeal to being able to kill the things that invented concepts such as cold and sprouts – no human would be that insane, so it was perfect slayer logic to slay them.

A small giggle began to take form in her throat. She unwound the towel from around her soaked hair and rubbed it vigorously to dry it, and to take her mind off the increasingly amusing image of staking giant snowflake people.

After she was content with the water content of her hair she tossed the towel over the comfy chair in the corner of the room. The material was a similar colour to that of Spike's slicked hair, and the way it was now draped over the arm reminded her of that night he had found her at the house when she had found out that she was no longer part of the new world order when it came to giving commands in the house. The memory brought a swift end to her giddy ideals and she lay back on the bed with a heavy sigh.

"Buffy?" came Dawn's voice through the door. She didn't wait for a reply before entering, however the sight of Buffy in nothing but a towel made her pause. "There should be a limit on the amount of naked women allowed in a building at any one time."

"If you had waited a minute for me to answer the door then..." she paused. "Just how many naked women are we talking about?"

Dawn grinned and leaned on the doorframe. "Willow is in the middle of calming a rather high strung Kennedy, what did you do to her?"

The blonde slayer lifted her head and raised an eyebrow. "It wasn't me, Hannah broke her new toy and she was having a tantrum."

The newest slayer and the youngest Scooby had become quite good friends in the last few weeks. They were the youngest girls in the mansion, both of them only being sixteen and seventeen respectively. It was because of their friendship that they found Hannah's love of books, but that didn't stop Kennedy from throwing demons at her every other day.

"Then Kennedy should stop taping swords to her hands," Dawn snorted. "Can you please get changed before I actually become mentally scarred beyond repair?"

Buffy's eyebrow disappeared into her hairline, but she complied and shooed the impossible teenager from the room so she could don a pair of jeans and a shirt, before letting her back in and motioning for her to sit on the bed while she attended her hair. She thought back to what Dawn had said about Kennedy and Willow, and she really was happy that the red head was finally happy with someone, especially after Tara died. It had made her heart bleed whenever she saw the resounding pain in her best friend's eyes.

"So," Dawn chirped as she leapt and landed on the bed with a bounce. "I saw Giles in his going-out-tweed-jacket, is he off to have tea and scones with another watcher man?"

Buffy rolled her eyes. "Hardly, apparently Andrew has been kidnapped by demons again; he's off on a rescue mission."

"Why does everyone get to go to Italy except me?" the teenager whined. "I want to go to Italy and eat pizza and meet Italian boys."

The blonde dropped the hair brush with a clatter on the desk but quickly composed herself. "You're too young to date... which you only proved when you went parking with a vamp."

The memory brought a giggle from Dawn. At the time she had been somewhat terrified, but now it was just sort of amusing. However, the reality of Buffy's comment soon sobered her. "I'm seventeen!"

"Technically you're three, but who's counting?" Buffy smirked, turning to face her sister.

The childish pout that the brunette was wearing only improved the blonde's mood all the more, and thoughts of Spike and the potential life-or-death situation involving Robin and Andrew were pushed to the back of her mind.

"You one to lecture me on vampire bonking anyway," Dawn said out of playful spite.

"One had a soul, and the other was neutered. You invited one into the house because she called you a baby," Buffy retaliated.

"You died. Twice!" The brunette grinned, totally sure of her victory.

The slayer crossed her arms. "You tasered Xander."

"Not my fault, you told him to knock me out, he had it coming," she snorted.

The blonde giggled before gesturing to the door. "I'm sure you could find someone else to bug, or possible hit with a big stick... in fact, go find Faith – hit her with a big stick."

"I thought you two were getting on now? It's so hard to keep up with slayer mood swings," Dawn sighed, flopping back and stretching her entire body o cover the whole bed so that Buffy couldn't sit down.

"I put her in charge of demons because it keeps her out of my way, but also busy. I know she's doing the whole redemption for trying to kill us all –several times – but I don't know what it is about her that makes me not want to turn my back on her."

"Meh," Dawn said in reply to the confession. "Just so long as she's stabbing demons and not me," She shrugged and sat up. "Speaking of stabbing, how was training? You don't look like you did much."

Buffy snorted in resentment of her comment but let it slide. "Kennedy interrupted me, and I didn't feel like taping a picture of her to my punch bag – Willow might hurt me."

She moved over to the bed and looked down at her giggling sister. Despite only technically being alive for three years the young girl had grown into a rather attractive young adult, Buffy knew that when she eventually pried her protective hands from the brunette's social life that it wouldn't take long before she started beating back boys with large objects.

However, the war was still far from over, so when Dawn turned her attention away Buffy dove and tackled her into the bed. Holding her in a rather painful head lock she cackled victoriously. "Pray for mercy!"

Dawn gasped in shock of the surprise attack but it didn't take her long to get her bearings and she quickly dug her fingers into the blonde's side. She didn't let go but her grip loosened enough for Dawn to slip her head out and bolt for the door. "Never!" she shrieked before sprinting down the corridor.

Buffy laughed and jumped to her feet, but before she could make it to the door a brilliant white light blinded her and sent her crashing to the ground. "God dammit," she groaned, rubbing her eyes viciously.

_Buffy, look at us._

The light spoke, but light couldn't speak, could it? The blonde began to think that maybe she had hit her head when she'd fallen over.

_Look at us._

She forced her eyes up and gasped in awe. Before her, floating a few inches off the ground was the most beautiful people she had ever seen. The man on the right had pale gold hair and eyes and his skin looked so pure she felt as though just looking at him could corrupt it, the woman however had shimmering hair that was so black it was almost purple with eyes to match. They were eyeing the slayer intently. The man raised his hand to rest over the light shining from his chest, and the woman mirrored him, but her hand covered a whole of pure darkness.

_Breathe child._

The blonde let out a gush of air that she hadn't been aware she was holding. Her chest heaved as she tried to drag masses of dry air into her lungs. The man reached down and took her hand. It felt looked and felt odd because he went slightly through her, but she could still feel him touching her and slowly lifted her to her feet.

"Wha...Who? I... Uhhh!" Buffy said, her thoughts a jumbled mess.

_Quiet child. _The woman said. The voices were only heard in the slayers head, and their mouths didn't move.

_We won't hurt you. _The man continued.

_Quite the contrary actually. _The woman's laugh sent shivers cascading down the blonde's spine. _We have an offer for you._

"Who are you?" Buffy asked, her eyes widening still, but her mind finally assembling some form of order in her head.

_Always so direct, but I suppose you have every right to know. We, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, are what your kind so often refer to as 'the-powers-that-be'. _The man chuckled. _Though you can call us Yin and Yang, or Light and Dark, or Good and Evil. We have thousands of names, you may call us whatever you feel most comfortable calling us._

The information sent Buffy's mind reeling once again, but there was one thought that stuck firmly at the forefront. "You're the bastards who killed me!"

Her hands slapped over her mouth with a force that would have shattered any human jaw. She could not believe what she had just said – and if these people really were who they said they would be then she had no doubt that she was going to be in a world of trouble.

The pair just stared at her questioningly, they didn't move or speak so Buffy lowered her hands and smiled weakly. "So you said something about an offer?" she tried.

The woman looked at her partner and then back at the blonde. _Uh huh._

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"What did you just call me," Kennedy repeated with more force. She had since untangled herself from Willow and was tugging an oversized shirt over her head.

"Kennedy... no I didn't, I mean... I love you, it was a mistake... I swear, Tara isn't, I mean wasn't... baby please." Willow stammered.

The temperamental slayer could be dangerous even when she was in a good mood – but normally Willow had no fear of her girlfriend, she knew where all the buttons were that switched her off. But now... now she was scared.

"Please what Willow? You just called out your _dead _ex girlfriends name when I was..." She waved her hand wildly at Willows lack of clothing. "It's bad enough when someone does it and their ex is alive – you can get mad at them for cheating, go and kick the ex's ass. But Tara is _dead _Willow, will you fucking get over her!" Kennedy roared.

Tears were flowing freely from Willow's eyes. They weren't from the guilt of calling out Tara's name anymore; they were from Kennedys words – each syllable cut through her heart like a knife. "Kennedy..."

"_Dead _Willow, she's gone, buried, in the ground. It's been well over a year now, move the hell on!" Anger rolled off the young slayer in waves. She barely heard the words she was saying, a red film covered her eyes – she didn't get upset, she got mad.

"But we talked about this," Willow whimpered, clutching at the duvet to cover her body. "I told you about... and how..." she couldn't complete her sentences for she was sobbing too hard.

"Yeah well," Kennedy said at a marginally lower volume. The red film was slowly lifting and the sight that met her eyes made her heart shatter. Willow looked generally terrified for her life, and for a witch who had been to hell and back – literally – it was a strange sight. "Willow..."

"No," the red head sniffed. "Get out Kennedy."

"You can't kick me out when it was you who called out your ex girlfriend's name," Kennedy bit back.

"Get out of my room," Willow ordered, flicking her wrist and sending a pulse at the slayer. The spell would have sent a normal human flying, but it simply made Kennedy take a few steps back.

"Don't use magic at me," Kennedy growled.

The Wicca's eyes darkened. "Get mad at me for doing what I did," she said with an eerily calm tone. "But never speak that way about Tara to me."

The brunette's eyes followed Willow's arm as it rose above the covers. She was still mad enough to be able to ignore the regret sinking through her stomach. However she wasn't prepared for the blast of energy that came hurtling toward her. She flew through the air and hit the wall in the adjoining room. She watched as the door slammed shut on Willows red and tear streamed face.

"Fine! I don't care!" Kennedy bellowed at no one. "I don't care!"

But really her heart was breaking.


	4. Haunted

**A/N: I'm actually enjoying coming up with ideas for this. Usually I run out and get bored and then my stories go unfinished, which is why they are usually one shot. However this one is definitely promising! Also, I am looking for a Beta reader, if you are interested, PM me.**

**Onwards trusty keyboard.**

Chapter 3: Haunted

In the seven or so months since Alexander Harris had left the Scoobies to go and set up an outpost in London he had accomplished surprisingly little. The four slayers he had originally recruited had turned to roughly fifty-three with new ones arriving every day. Finding accommodation for them, and reliable alibis took up most of his time, and suitably kept his mind off other matters.

Every so often Robin and Andrew would drop by to relieve him of thirty mini slayers and take them to Giles and Buffy in their makeshift lorry turned slayer transport car. But apart from that he had little contact with the group.

It was no surprise to him to find the large quantity of evil in the main city – nor the large amount of new slayers, at first the originals and him had been overwhelmed, but after a few weeks they managed to get a foothold and set up an efficient outpost for the new slayers.

"Mr. Harris," Chloe, one of the originals, said as she entered the room with a handful of documents.

"I keep telling ya," he replied with a small smile. "My name's Xander."

"...Mr. Xander, Yasmine and Lucy have moved into Hannah Blaine's room because they blew up theirs trying keep a Canis demon as a pet," she read from the paper. "Katie and Hannah Falls are on patrol with... Gabby, Alex, Andy and Shannon. We had three new slayers this morning, they are going to bunk with the Sophie's until we clear out the slayers this weekend in the collection that Robin called about two weeks ago. Oh... and we're out of Co-co Puffs."

Xander looked up and raised an eyebrow. "Which Sophie is it that's in charge of training?"

"McManus I think sir."

"And she is?" he prompted.

"The one with brown hair sir."

The fuzzy face of the slayer began to take form in his mind and he nodded. "I have no idea who most of the people you said are; just keep them all safe, and preferably alive. You should make them wear name tags or something," he opened one of the drawers in his desk and took out a roll of twenty pound notes, he quickly counted out some. "Take this and go shopping... how old are you?"

"Eighteen, sir," she smiled.

"And pick me up some beer," he grinned and sent the overly polite girl on her way. But as soon as the door closed his face returned to a sad expression, and the picture of Willow, Buffy and himself was dug back out of the pile of paper he had thrown it under when Chloe entered the room.

He sighed, stood it in the corner of his desk, and continued going through the letters he would send to slayers parents depicting the details of the college he was pretending to run.

With one last look at the picture, he gathered the paper onto a pile and took it with him as he left the room to post it.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Buffy's skin was buzzing. Power sizzled like lightening along her body; it burned and cooled at the same time. She felt more alive than ever, more than before she died and went to heaven, more than before she even died the first time. The rush made her gasp and throw her head back, if someone to walk in they would think that she was getting something more than just a power surge.

But as suddenly as the power came, it went, and the blonde slayer fell to her knees. She was breathing heavily, almost panting.

_There is more. _The man smiled. _In return for the work you have done we could give you anything, power like that which we gave you but a taste, we can return a loved one..._

Her head shot up. Sweat ran in rivers from her recent removal of power but she did little more than wipe it to prevent it entering her eyes, the rest she left to run down her face. She was suddenly very aware of more people being present in the room.

To her left stood Spike, a cigarette stuck lazily in his mouth, his eyes showing gleeful mischief. Tears began to form in her eyes as she reached forward. Just as her fingers were about to make contact with his skin he vanished – she cried out in frustration.

"Buffy..." came a voice from her right.

The sight of the new person did more than conjure tears, they flowed freely down her cheeks and sobs started to rack her body. Joyce Summers was floating mere centimetres from her daughter, a sad smile spread on her face.

"Stop it," the blonde begged quietly and her mother disappeared.

_We can give you whatever it is you desire child. _The woman repeated.

"Why now? Why not after I stopped the master?" Buffy asked.

_Your destiny was not complete... _the man hesitated. _There has been a long forgotten rule; you have survived much longer than the average slayer Child. It is time for this to happen, the Powers that Be are releasing you of your duty to the world – if you ask for it._

"As in I can give up my slayer powers and live like a normal girl?"

_If you wished. However, one thing we cannot do is change the past, only the future._

The blonde wiped the last of the tears from her cheeks and she pushed off from the floor so she was standing, squared her shoulders and sighed. "I need time."

_We can allow twenty-four hours from this moment, make your decision by six tomorrow._

In a flash of light that was just as white as before the pair vanished – leaving a very dazed and confused slayer behind, seeing red and white spots where her wall should be. She thought about every one they had lost, Spike, her mother, Tara and everything that had happened, Xander's eye, Willow and her dark magic, Angel. She had the power to change something, ease someone's suffering. _I could give my friends anything _she thought _maybe even free all the mini slayers so they can live normal lives._

"Buffy? Come on, I know I'm great, but I didn't think that you were that bad. Where are you?" Dawn called from down the corridor than she had run just minutes before.

The blonde caught her playful sister's eye. _I could make her forget, I could give her the life she wants._

"I'm coming!" Buffy replied, faking a huge smile and half heartedly running after her sister. _Whatever I decide, I'm bound to screw it up anyway._

It didn't take her long to catch up to Dawn and soon they were a knot of limbs on the red carpet. At first it seemed as though the brunette could actually get away, she dug her arm mercilessly into her sister's side until she had almost wriggled free again. But eventually slayer stamina won out and the youngest Summers girl was pinned with her arms above her head.

"You were saying?" Buffy smirked.

Dawn scowled. "Get off me," she ordered, but there was a light-hearted edge to her tone.

The blonde just grinned and made herself comfortable. However the happiness didn't last long when she caught sight of the half dressed brunette that stormed down the corridor and was heading straight toward them. If the slayer had a look fit to kill when the mini slayer broke her staff – then now her look would make the devil himself cower under the gaze.

The girls untangled themselves. "Kennedy?" Buffy asked tentatively as the slayer got closer.

"What?" Kennedy snapped, causing Dawn to move behind her sister in fear – she had never seen the brunette so angry.

"What's wrong? Where's Willow?" The blonde questioned.

Kennedy's eyes became murderous. "Oh right, Willow, of course she'd be your priority, not the girl who was just thrown across the room with magic! Your _precious _Willow is in her room."

She moved past the pair and stalked down the corridor, leaving a tangible wake of danger and fire. The girls watched until the hormonal slayer had rounded the corner before they realised that their mouths were open. Buffy shook her head and closed her mouth, using her arm to close Dawn's.

"Buffy..." Dawn whispered.

"Go find Faith, tell her we require her wrestling skills, I'll find Willow."

The brunette didn't reply, but set off in a similar direction to the slayer, however she turned left instead of right at the end of the corridor. Buffy watched her leave before turning and taking a large breath and heading straight for her best friend's door. She listened out for the tell-tale signs of spell casting, but didn't hear or feel any, so quietly she pushed the door open and the sound that came cascading out made her forget all about magic.

The sobs that wracked the small Wicca's body made the blonde's heart shatter, they reminded her so much of the painful memories from when Oz left, and when Tara...

"Willow?" she whispered so as to not startle the witch. Willow acknowledged her presence but didn't look up. "What happened? Kennedy said magic, but I thought you had it under control."

However, this comment made the Witch look up sharply. "Is that what you thought? That I would just," she waved her hands in the air. "You still don't trust me!"

The blonde realised her mistake a little too late. "No Willow, that's not what I meant, I do trust you, honestly... it's just you threw a slayer across a room – it's not really your average spell that does that."

"Yeah well... she pissed me off."

Buffy raised an eyebrow. "It's just unusual for you Will, wanna tell me what happened?"

Willow shook her head, but when Buffy sat down and looked at her expectantly she sighed and hugged a pillow. "I called out Tara's name while me and Kennedy were... you know," she scratched her arm absentmindedly. "She got really mad, like not Hannah-broker-her-staff mad, but like really mad – she's never been that way with me before..." she trailed off as crying took over once again.

The slayer frowned and pulled her best friend into a hug – she would question the Tara thing after she got to the bottom of the flying slayer. She moved them so that they were comfortable before speaking. "But that doesn't explain why you threw her across the room."

Willow sniffed and wiped her arm across her face. "She... and I... Tara... Buffy..." she sobbed.

Buffy waited patiently, crying Willows ability to talk was often worse than babbling Willows, she had learned to just wait until she composed herself enough to form sentences. Her hand began to rub small circles into the red heads back, it was a natural reaction ever since Andrew had managed to talk her into Yoga... she was still fuzzy on exactly how he had managed to do it.

"She got so mad, and she was saying... she said that I should be over Tara, that she was dead and never coming back," the witch said eventually. "She kept saying it – but Buffy _I felt her_."

"Who? Kennedy?"

"No," she paused. "Tara. Tara was here, in this room, I felt her."

Buffy's eyebrow made its way back up her forehead before she could stop it. "But Will... that's not possible, you know that."

Willow pushed herself out of Buffy's arms so she could look at the slayer. Her eyes showed her seriousness, but the blonde could only look at her sympathetically. "I think she's in trouble," she stated.

"Willow..."

"No Buffy," she interrupted, wiping the last of the tears from her face. "She was here. I know she was - it felt... I haven't felt like that in... It had to be her, Buffy it had to be."

Willow's 'resolve' face could rarely if ever be argued with so Buffy sighed and rested her head on one of her hands. "What do you want me to do?"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Dawn _hated _the basement of the mansion – and usually avoided it at all costs. Not only that, she even avoided the room that the staircase leading down to it was in. The sounds of the demons that lived mere feet beneath her chilled her to the bone, no matter how brave she told Buffy she was.

She stared at the gaping black hole of the doorway and shivered, forcing her feet forward. Her hand gripped the doorway of its own accord, as if silently forbidding her to go any further. The brunette set her jaw, gritted her teeth, and descended into the darkness.

However as soon as she got half way down the stairs a dim light made most of the immediate area visible, and the sight would haunt her forever.

**A/N: Ta-da, sorry for the delay, school just started up again, please review **


	5. Striking matches

Chapter 4: Striking matches

Dawn barely managed a squeak before Faith span round and appeared by her side. The older woman placed her hands on the small girl's shoulders turned her so she was facing away from the basement, and staring wide-eyed up at her.

"You know you're not supposed to be down here Summers," she said quickly.

Dawn didn't reply, in fact she didn't really hear Faith at all, her ears had been taken over by the sounds of the demons behind her. There were hundreds of them – many more than the slayer had let onto Buffy.

"Listen _Dawn_," Faith growled, wrapping her fingers around the small girls chin and turning her attention back to her. "If you tell Buffy, well you see these demons are pretty _restless, _get me?"

Dawn nodded mutely. After a couple more seconds the older woman let go of Dawn and her features softened slightly. "What did you want?"

"Kennedy's gone mad again and Buffy wants you to find her before she finds a mini slayer," Dawn said so quickly her sentence became one long word.

Faith tilted her head while she deciphered the message before frog marching Dawn back up the stairs and away from the heaving demon horde in the basement – slamming the door behind them.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Willow I don't think this is a good idea..." Buffy stated for the fifth time in three minutes.

But the red head was busy, she was muttering words that Buffy had no hope of understanding and scanning through books like a woman possessed – and she would know. Willow's green eyes were still red and puffy from her fight with Kennedy, but other than that you wouldn't have been able to tell that moments ago she had been a broken shell.

"Willow... Willow! Willow, look at me!" Buffy yelled.

The Wicca looked up sharply and stared questioningly at the slayer, the book laid momentarily forgotten. "What?"

"Why are you doing this?"

Willow tilted her head in a way that reminded Buffy very much of a confused puppy, she couldn't help a small smile, but it quickly vanished when the red head sighed. "She needs me Buffy."

The slayer knelt on the floor next to her friend and took her hands. "I know I said I'd help, but think about it Will, maybe you just miss her? And what about Kennedy, don't you love her?"

"I do..." Willow hesitated. "But the way she spoke about Tara, and I felt her... I'm sure I did, and Kennedy doesn't understand, and me and Tara were suppose to be forever, but of course I love Kennedy. I still feel like I'm Tara's, but Kennedy is my girlfriend, and I know Tara would want me to be happy..."

Buffy tuned out slightly to Willow's babbling because her slayer hearing picked up someone standing outside of the door. She couldn't quite make out who exactly it was, but by the way they were planting their feet they were defiantly trying to be sneaky. It was obvious that Willow was now in her own world, and after Buffy deemed her stable enough to be left for a few minutes without blowing something up, she stood and moved silently to the door.

At first she still couldn't figure out who it was, but then a familiar perfume wafted toward her. "Dammit," she cursed.

She hurried back over to the red head and quickly got her attention by holding her head still in the palms of her hands. "Kennedy is outside the door."

Willow's green eyes flashed with tears again, and though she tried to hide it, the blonde slayer caught something else; something much more worrisome than the remnants of a previous argument. Buffy saw genuine fear. "You need to go Buffy; I need to talk to Kennedy."

It was Buffy's turn to resemble a puppy. "I think I should stay,"

The Wicca's eyes widened and this time Buffy was sure she saw fear. "No, no it's fine, really, it's only Kennedy." She attempted a weak smile but it was enough to convince the slayer to leave the room.

Buffy let go of Willow and walked slowly back towards the door, she shot Willow a 'if I so much as hear a swear word I am breaking down this door' look and twisted the handle. A still only half dressed Kennedy was leaning against the wall opposite, her glare trained on the blonde's movements. Her eyes didn't leave her until she was out of sight around the corner, and then she entered – and closed the door behind her.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Dawn was leading Faith up the staircase when they ran into a frustrated Buffy sitting at the table. She knew from her sister's expression that all was not well in the Wicca world and that she should probably remove the knife from arms reach before the blonde inevitably took her anger out on the younger slayer – like she normally did.

"Where's Red?" Faith asked, either completely oblivious to Buffy's foul mood, or choosing to ignore it. "Or more importantly, where's her little time-bomb on legs of a girl?"

"They're both in Willow's room, where were you? You were supposed to go find Kennedy before she came back," Buffy snapped.

Dawn took this opportunity while no one's attention was on her to sneak toward the door – but it was short lived when the blonde held out her hand to her and motioned for her to stop. "It's gone eleven, do not go to the kitchen, go upstairs and go to bed."

"I'm seventeen!"

"Now Dawn."

Faith smirked and waved as Dawn stormed off toward the stairs. The blonde ran her fingers through her hair and sighed loudly before resting her forehead on her arms on the table. "I'm worried about Willow."

The younger slayer frowned and raised an eyebrow – it amazed her how Buffy could switch between hating her and talking to her as though she was human so quickly. It had almost been a year and the slayer had not changed her attitude toward Faith at all – no matter what she did – and really she was done trying. So long as the mini-Summers kept her little mouth shut it wouldn't matter anyway.

But Faith couldn't help but want Buffy to, be proud of her? Trust her? Just like her? She didn't really know, she just knew that she didn't want this uneasy tension. The brunette had a habit of screwing up the things in her life and this was no exception.

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Faith said awkwardly. "Kennedy wouldn't hurt her."

"I'm not so sure, she seemed pretty pissed."

The younger slayer shuffled her feet nervously. "But still, it's Willow – if Kennedy starts running her mouth she'll go all Wicca on her ass right?"

Buffy lifted her head long enough to raise an eyebrow at her counterpart. "It's like you don't know Willow at all – she'd never use magic on any of us. That thing with them earlier was something else entirely, and that's why I'm worried," she spelled out as though she was talking to a child. "She barely uses magic at all anymore if she can help it. At most she uses it to silence their room when... y'know."

"Listen B, maybe you should talk to Watcher man... I'm not really the be..."

"Giles has gone to Italy."

"Oh?"

"Apparently Andrew has been kidnapped by demons again," the reality of the situation began to sink in when Buffy realised she was confiding in Faith with things she hadn't even told Willow. "And it's not like I'd be talking to you anyway if Willow or Giles weren't busy."

The words stung to the point where Faith unconsciously took a step back. She never wanted to show how much Buffy's emotional whiplash affected her but sometimes she couldn't hide it. However the blonde missed her counter parts movements and rested her head back on the table.

"Yeah well..." Faith began, but she failed to come up with anything clever before storming from the room and returning to the basement. What did she care what Buffy thought of her anyway?

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Kennedy slammed the door and stared straight at the red hair sitting in the centre of her bed. She smiled when Willow shivered under her gaze and slowly made her way over to the edge of the bed and placed her hands on the covers. Then she noticed the open magic book sitting in her lap and her smile vanished.

"What are you doing with that Willow?" she asked, snatching it up before the red head could stop her. "How to rescue a lost soul," she turned the page. "Otherworld communication," another page, "Soul transfer," she looked up at the witch and raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?"

Willow didn't say anything but her eyes widened a little in terror. The brunette motioned for to speak but the Wicca shook her head violently and began to tremble.

"Willow... you used magic on me," she sighed, her features softening when she saw the growing fear in her girlfriends eyes.

"S...sorry, but I... Kennedy..."

"You talk about her in your sleep you know, when you lie next to me, with my hands on you, it's always _Tara, Tara, Tara." _

The red head took a deep breath and shuffled away from the slayer but her movements were stopped with a glare. "I know you love me Willow, no-one else makes your body move the way I do. I thought if I let you get over her, if I just stayed then it would get better, you would get better. Willow, you're not going to be happy with anyone who isn't her."

"That's not true... I... it's only been... not even a year and I love you, you know I do," Willow stammered.

"You don't love me, you love _her_. I know that when I touch you all you see is her, I thought that maybe it could change, but it hasn't, and I'm starting to think it won't. I don't think this is going to work."

Willow's heart all but stopped when the words left Kennedys mouth. They mirrored almost exactly the ones Tara had before everything went wrong. Before the magic, before she died. It brought painful memories surging forward with such a force that she couldn't prevent a large sob shaking her body.

The brunette didn't move to comfort her but instead alternated her weight on her feet and stared at the floor. She had never really been good with emotions that didn't involve anger or lust and due to the nature of her conversation she didn't know what she could do to ease the witch's pain.

"I can't love you when you love her," Kennedy whispered, all previous anger dissipating with each tear that rolled down Willow's cheek.

But Willow wasn't listening anymore.

_She sounded like angels when she sang and her skin sent flames rushing along her skin. Crystal blue eyes that made her heart melt every single time they looked at her – and in every moment that her eyes found hers, she was wonderful._

_Undisguised love would drip from every word and every touch. Moments, just moments, when she would see her and nothing else mattered; nothing could hurt her, ever. That smile that would render her paralysed each and every time._

_And the day the world broke._

"Willow?"

_The day the world stopped turning and the day the sun stopped shining. The day the birds stopped singing and her soul turned black. She could still feel it sometimes, playing with the edges of her mind. That undiluted need, that lust for the power._

Willow closed her eyes.

_Those blue eyes didn't have the flames in them anymore. They stared straight through her. The colour ran from her face, her beautiful face, until she wasn't recognizable anymore._

_The day Tara, her Tara, broke her promise and left her alone._

When she opened her eyes, Kennedy was gone.

**A/N Gah, sorry it's been so long, major writers block trying to link the plot together, I have the ideas, just not the filler bits XD Please review.**


	6. Fighting words

**A/N Good morning, afternoon or night, depending on where you are. Writers block can be such a pain in the ass, but alas, I continue. But only if you review, because otherwise, it's not really worth it, is it?**

Chapter 5:

He didn't know what had made him buy the ticket and drive to the airport, at just gone midnight no less, but he just couldn't ignore the undeniable feeling that something was wrong, or was going to go wrong. His knuckles were white on the steering wheel as his foot kept the pedal on the floor of the car. There was a tiny thought that screamed 'POLICE' at him, but at the same time the rest of his mind urged him to keep going.

It didn't take long to get from one side of London to the other at the speed he was going and soon he had his car parked across three spaces outside the front door of the airport and he was inside. The place wasn't full, but there were still a number of suit donning passengers and dozing children with their parents who were no doubt off to exotic places.

In the corner of the room was a woman trying to sooth a screaming baby – he so hoped that they were not going on the same plane as him – otherwise it was going to be one long night.

The smell that came with every airport he had ever been in made him wrinkle his nose – it was not a pleasant smell – however flying was quicker than driving. He adjusted his small bag that contained one change of clothes and an assortment of wood based weapons and headed for check-in. The papers that would allow him to board without too much fuss were heavy in his pocket but weren't hard to acquire if you knew the right people.

"Passport," the woman said in a nasal tone. He handed it over and she gave it back, barely looking at it, and motioned him on.

Security was always the hardest, even with the papers he couldn't avoid the suspicion that came with wanting to take a cross bow onto a plane. This time was no different, each of the three security guards kept wary eyes on him after scanning his bag. The papers exchanged hands, but it did not deter their gazes in the slightest.

He shrugged it off and sat in the boarding room; waiting for his plane to be called.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

She stared blankly at the wall. The clock made the only audible sound in the room; you couldn't even hear her breathing. Every so often her eyes would close and then open a second later – forming the only movement beside the second hand on the clock for her chest barely moved. Her jade green eyes were dull, and lifeless, without their previous sparkle; the eyes of someone who had lost so much because of one little time shattering event.

The clock edged forward to make it quarter past twelve; twenty-four hours ago she had been curled up against the stomach of her slayer. How so much had changed in twenty-four hours. What was it about twenty-four hours that always made them so significant? You could have a long string of twenty-four hours and have them not amount to anything, and then there is that one twenty-four hours when the world will never be the same again.

No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't form a coherent picture in her mind. One second it was Kennedy, moisture on her brow, memorizing curves and the hypnotic effect she had when she trained. The next it was Tara, gentle eyes and shy smile that made Willow's heart melt in seconds. At one point she had the strange image of them together, that at any other time would have made her giggle, but presently it just made fresh tears sting her eyes.

The red head had faced the end of the world, more than once, and even tried to cause one herself, but never before had she felt so... so... goddamn empty. First went Oz, then Tara and Xander and now Kennedy. What was wrong with her? It had to be her, right? No-one ever left Buffy or Dawn. It was only ever her, she drove these people away. She brought them into her life, into her dangerous, dangerous life, and just like that they went.

Deep down she knew she was being ridiculous, but somehow that little voice was easily drowned out by her weeping soul. Was Kennedy right? Would she never be allowed to be happy because of Tara? She wasn't sure whether it was comforting to know, or if she would have rather lived the rest of her life having Kennedy lie to her and be in blissful ignorance. Eventually she concluded that she would have figured it out for herself sooner or later even if the slayer hadn't have hit her in the face with reality.

_Tara had defiantly been in the room. I'm not going crazy. I'm not. Am I? No, of course not._ She babbled inside her mind. _I wouldn't mistake her ever. Not Tara, it was defiantly her. Am I making it up? Do I just miss her like Buffy said? _

She didn't know what it meant or what to do about it. It wasn't like she could ever be with Tara again... no, she couldn't. Could she?

"I think I might be insane," she said to no-one. Though the statement didn't really surprise her – she had tried to end the world by sucking the humanity out of it. It had been two years ago easily, but the vision of Giles, broken on the floor, the vision of Xander, bleeding and crying, the vision of Dawn, her eyes wide with blind terror. Those would never go away.

She rolled over and buried her head in the pillow and quietly began to sob for the sixth time in the last five or so hours.

The minute hand moved forward, it was now seventeen minutes past midnight.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Buffy had a dilemma. Part of her desperately wanted to go find Willow and make sure she was okay. A different part of her wanted to go find Faith and... What? Apologise? A third part of her wanted to ring Giles and tell him about the Powers that Be and their offer. But then there was that equally loud fourth part that just wanted to go to bed and close her eyes until everything just went away.

So she settled for pacing at the foot of her bed; which, coincidently, is what reminded her of the wish she would need to decide on in less than eighteen hours. There were so many things that she could ask for, and only one chance. If she blew it she would never get another one.

She turned and went back across the room.

Turn. Pace. Turn. Pace. Turn. Pace. Left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot, left foot, right foot, turn, pace.

Different thoughts ran through her head like bullets. None of them remaining still long enough for her to catch what it was before the next one came and man handled it out of the way. The silence of her room wasn't helping either, she couldn't even hear the sound of her own feet on the floor and it was deafening.

Willow. The wish. Faith. Dawn. Giles. Sunnydale. Spike. The wish. Dawn. Willow. The mini slayers. Kennedy.

A little tapping sound made her spin round and face the window, before she remembered that the occupants of this house actually used the doors. She moved toward the entrance and turned the handle. A fair haired mini slayer stood in the doorway, her hands clasped behind her back and her cheeks flushed red. Buffy tried to recall the pretty girl's name, but there were so many mini-slayers at the mansion, she wasn't even sure on the exact number.

"Hello," Buffy said when the girl didn't speak.

She squeaked and shuffled on her feet, she was breathing heavily from running. "Miss... Miss Summers," the girl's hands were shaking.

"Are you okay?" The slayer asked, instantly alert from the girls worried stance. "What's happened?"

"It's... there's... basement," the girl panted. "Kennedy... Faith... come!"

She gripped Buffy's arm and dragged her from the room. The blonde was still getting used to people actually being able to do that – even after ten months – and she stumbled as she cross the threshold. The mini-slayer waited for Buffy to regain her balance and then tugged lightly on her arm and the pair jogged down the hall.

The slayers made quick time to the entrance of the basement and already Buffy could hear the tell-tale signs of something bad and demon orientated happening below. The mini slayer paused at the doorway and the blonde ran into the back of her. Buffy noticed that the mini-slayers fingers were digging holes into the door frame and she reasoned that the girl was scared – which was defiantly a bad sign. But she didn't question and instead just pushed past her and ventured down into the dark.

At first she moved in almost complete darkness, but the closer she got to the bottom of the stairs the more she could see. The light came from a ring of lamps surrounding a circle drawn in green sand on the dusty floor. It was glowing slightly, a sign that meant it was defiantly enchanted. But that wasn't what caught Buffy's eyes as she descended the last few steps.

In the centre of the circle stood Kennedy, donning a sports bar and loose grey jogging bottoms. She was sweating profusely and had a furious scowl plastered on her face, along with blood that was pumping rather freely from the gash just below her left eye. At her feet lay a, what looked like, recently decapitated Hellhound.

There were at least fifteen mini-slayers standing at various intervals watching the spectacle. At first Buffy reasoned that it was a lesson, but the flash of money changing hands told her otherwise.

To the side was Faith. In her hand she held the leash to another demon, which was gagged and bound at the ankles and wrists, and at a nod from Kennedy she released it into the circle. At first the demon threw itself at the edge of the circle but was stopped by a force, but when Kennedy cleared her throat it span round, teeth bared, and charged for the slayer.

Buffy felt the urge to leap in and protect the girl but just as she went to lift a foot Kennedy drew out a long, slim knife from a hidden place and slashed the demon across the throat. No struggle, not fight. One second the demon stood there; spit flying from its mouth. The next its flailing on the floor, and before long it's dead, blood dribbling in bubbles from its open mouth.

Faith led out three more demons, muscles rippling in the half light and prepared to release them into the circle with Kennedy. This was too much for Buffy. She clenched her fists at her sides and charged into the open. No one could move before she had torn a sword from the wall and impaled the three demons through the chest, one after the other. They sank to the floor and Buffy turned slowly, her bloody sword held high as an unspoken threat, and faced the other two slayers.

She was panting, but the murderous look in her eyes prevented any of the girls challenging her presence. "What," she growled. "The hell is going on!"

The mini-slayers stared mutely at the blonde, and even Kennedy looked slightly scared. However Faith looked at the slayer with mild amusement. "Just having a little fun B," she smirked.

Buffy didn't bother with retaliation and instead swung her sword and pushed Faith back against the wall, sword pressed dangerously close to the brunette's jugular. A flicker of something passed through Faith's eyes, but it was soon replaced with a cocky humour. "Now Buffy, if you wanted me up the wall, all you had to do was ask."

The blonde let her down in disgust. "What the hell is going on Faith, betting on slayers and demons? What happens if there's an accident and one of the girls gets hurt?"

Faith raised an eyebrow but caught Buffy's deadly serious tone. "No one would get hurt; Kennedy is quite capable of kicking demon ass."

"Not Kennedy, one of the young girls, do you pit them against demons for your amusement? Answer me Faith, what the hell made you think this was a good idea?" Buffy fumed.

"Like you would care anyway Buffy," Kennedy interjected, making the blonde turn and glare at her. "It's up to the girls to do what they like, even Dawn's had a go..."

She was cut off by Buffy's sword whizzing through the air. It passed through the barrier simple because of the speed it was travelling, but its line was distorted by the magic and it sped straight passed Kennedy's head and stuck in the wall between two of the mini slayers.

"Upstairs, bed, go," Buffy seethed. The mini slayers couldn't leave the room fast enough, leaving Faith and Kennedy at Buffy's mercy.

"Who do you think made the boxing ring B," Faith spat after a three second silence. "We asked Willow but she was completely against it, the slayer suck up."

This earned a glare from Kennedy but Faith ignored it.

"Dawn doesn't do magic," Buffy denied. "And she defiantly wouldn't do it for... for this!"

"You're right," The older brunette smirked. "But she would if she thought I needed it to hold a demon until I cleared out a space for it."

"She doesn't do magic!" Buffy roared. The sound was loud enough the silence the remaining demons, and make the floor vibrate a little.

"Willow's been teaching her," Kennedy said quietly, with venom dripping from her words.

The blonde's eyes exploded in disbelief. "She wouldn't."

But the slayers eyes held no lies. Buffy's heart dropped into her stomach. After everything that happened with Willow and magic the idea of involving Dawn had deeply terrified her, because it proved that even the most innocent of people can be corrupted.

She leaned against the wall, she suddenly had no energy and the anger leaked from her muscles. "Get out," she hissed.

The brunette's didn't need to be told twice.


	7. Future Warnings

Chapter 6: Future warnings

Rupert Giles stepped off the plane with a look of grim determination spread across his features. He smiled politely at the flight attendant before hurrying down the ramp and making his way over to the cramped passenger bus that would take the flyers to the baggage claim area. The smell of the vehicle rivalled that of Xander after he'd been chased by those vampires that one time, the memory made Giles chuckle. It didn't last long though as an overly large and somewhat damp man barged into him.

His decision to leave for Italy hadn't been because he was worried about Andrew, or Robin. The ex-principle wasn't in Italy with Andrew like everyone thought anyway; he was in America with Angel setting up a secondary mini-slayer base, and the irritating closeted blonde made no dent on his conscious. Last time Andrew had called in a panic over demons it was because the slayers he had recruited had brought theirs back alive. He claimed that they were out to get him when really they were being teenage girls and messing with him.

So no, he wasn't in Italy for an emergency. Not one that would concern his surrogate family anyway. It ran deeper than that – an old friend that even he hadn't remembered until that odd phone call only a few hours ago.

The bus came to a halt outside the doors and Giles was one of the first people off. First he dragged a lungful of fresh, none nausea inducing, air and then he made his way inside to collect his luggage. The airport itself was not all that large, and there weren't that many people about, so it didn't take long for him to locate his bag, rent a car and head outside again.

The phone call had worried him deeply, and he had to suppress the urge to wipe his glasses again. He didn't like his new ones, his old ones were much nicer – but the opticians had been unable to repair the damage done via hell mouth onto his old spectacles.

It wasn't as though his friend had been threatening, or menacing, or malevolent in any way. It was just because he had rung him, after so many years. The nature of his call was not all that calming either.

Giles yanked open the back door of his temporary car and threw his luggage haphazardly in before climbing into the front and turning the key in the ignition. He didn't like the car. It was too large and made a God awful noise so he gritted his teeth and followed the traffic out of the airport and toward his desired destination.

He glanced at his watch; it was about two in the morning in England now. It bothered him a little leaving everyone there alone and without supervision, purely because last time he had made that mistake he had come back to find Willow tied by her ankles to the ceiling and all the mini slayers, plus Buffy, Faith and Dawn, passed out on the floor. He didn't ask why, or what had happened. Giles had been afraid of the answer.

Before he realised he was out of the city and onto a long stretch of blank and featureless road. His destination was more or less in the direction of Foligno, but he knew that when he was close his friend from the past would find him.

His mind wandered to the memory of the last time he had seen this person, if you could call him that.

_He was a fresh watcher, long before he ever met Buffy or the rest of his surrogate family. Sure, he'd been trained to know all about one, but he'd never actually seen one. It didn't matter though, everything he needed to know was in the handbook..._

_But that day wasn't in the handbook – he had been taught that all demons were evil, that all demons and vampires and anything that wasn't human were wrong. __Andy wasn't human, even if he looked like he was, he defiantly wasn't. There was no doubt in Giles's mind that Andy was abnormal, strange, extra terrestrial almost. All you needed to see to be sure of that was his golden eyes and the fact that he glowed with a silver light when you saw him in direct sunlight – he didn't go out much._

_Giles had stood behind him, sword help high and poised ready to strike, when a voice in his mind gently commanded him to lower it. He complied without meaning to – the voice sounded so sweet, and relaxing, impossible to ignore. To disobey it was not an option._

_It had only taken him a minute to realise that it was the creature who was speaking into his mind. The second it had turned to face him he knew that his life would never be the same. _

"_Rupert Giles," it had said, calmly. In the same voice that had encased Giles's senses and nervous system. "I've been waiting for you."_

_He was sent to his knees, gazing up at the creature. Giles didn't know why he fell to the floor; it just felt right - like he should honour the being. "You have?"_

"_My name is __Andreas," it continued. Its golden eyes were soft and showed no evil. There wasn't even a flicker of darkness – just pure golden liquid. It made Giles want to drown in them. "It will take too long to explain everything to you in this day, but for now: You may call me Andrew, or Andy; I come from somewhere that is quite different to this, a different time," it was then that Giles realised that Andreas was speaking Latin, and that he was having no problem at all understanding a word of it. "My world, and your future, is in peril Rupert."_

_Giles stared up at the being, future? A thousand questions flooded his mind but he couldn't form a coherent thought. "W...What?"_

"_You must not mention me to the council Rupert, do you understand me? I will contact you soon and explain more then."_

_The Watcher blinked in awe, but when he opened his eyes, Andreas was gone._

"Funny definition of soon," Giles mumbled to himself as he neared the village where he would be meeting Andrew.

The being had been pushed from his mind for many years, he could barely believe that he had forgotten him. It's not every day that you meet someone from the future, yet somehow it had seemed unreal. As though he had dreamt the whole thing and because Andreas had never contacted him again he just assumed that, that was what it was – a dream.

But here he was, in a stuffy car that was far too large, driving faster than he probably should down an Italian road. He wondered if Andreas has changed at all, if he had even aged at all. The being had mentioned future trouble, and using his past experiences with world peril, his imagination came up with thousands of possibilities.

The village came into view and Giles's heartbeat sped up despite his attempts at remaining calm. He steered the car off the main road and onto a somewhat bumpy and uneven lane that would lead him to the entrance of the collection of houses. The car roared as he passed over each pot hole – it was far from a discreet entrance.

"Rupert," a voice said in his head. "Welcome."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Kennedy sat outside the mansion on a bench in light of the stars. She couldn't quite believe how the night had turned out. She had known for a while that there was something going on in Willow's head, but no matter what she tried, when or how, the red head just laughed it off and changed the subject.

Her mind wandered back to the wreckage of Sunnydale, and then further still. How long had Willow had these thoughts? Kennedy knew that Tara would always hold a part of willow's heart that she would never be able to touch, but she didn't think that there was still a blazing fire of love there. She thought that Willow loved her, did she ever?

Memories of what she said to her girlfriend stung her heart, but no matter how hard she tried she knew she would have done it exactly the same if it happened again. That was just the way she was, she reacted the only way she knew how, yelling. It was the way she had been brought out, you got your way by having the loudest voice. She knew deep down that no matter how many times she replayed the scene that it would remain the same, and there was no apologising for what she said.

It had all been so stupid. A surge of jealousy and rage just at the mention of her name came erupting from her stomach and she was powerless to stop it. Not only did she say her name, but she said it while she was doing that, of all the moments it was that one, and then to use magic on her.

"No way was all of it my fault," she spat.

Her night had gone from worse to worse than worse during the fight. Faith had, had the original idea for the demon ring, but it hadn't taken her long to join in. She felt it was a good way to train the mini slayers. If they died, well they weren't worth it then, and it wasn't like buffy even knew how many she had in the house – if a few went missing every now and again she wasn't going to notice.

It had been a genius idea really, when you think about it. There was no better way to train than against actual demons, right? Besides she wasn't _really _doing anything wrong. Tricking Dawn had been Faith's idea anyway, not hers. It was Faiths fault that it existed. She had just gone along for the ride.

"What a shitty night, what did I do to deserve this?" She mumbled to no one.

Because when you thought about it, it wasn't really her fault, was it?

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

Xander stepped off the plane in Newquay after his thirty minute flight and armed with his only piece of luggage marched straight through the airport and out into the Cornish air. The mansion itself wasn't far if you knew the way, but the turning was concealed and hard to find if you didn't know what to look for.

He hadn't been here for ten months, and had barely spoken to any of the people inside. It made his heart ache but he tried not to focus too much on the past as he drove down the long winding country lane that would lead him to the front gate. You either needed a passcode or an appointment to get inside. It was manned by a friend of Angels and if you didn't have the right circumstances you would not get in, end of sentence, full stop, no arguments.

"Passcode," the creature growled from the shadows as Xander pulled up to the gate.

He hoped they hadn't changed it from the original code. "SC95."

A grumble told him that he was right and the groaning of the gate as it opened put a silly grin on his face. The system was effective even if it was simple; it kept out unwanted visitors like salesmen and well… people.

The gate slid closed behind his with a loud whine that he knew would probably not go unnoticed by the inhabitants of the house. However, he reasoned that most of them would be asleep. Now that he was only a few metres away the growing sense that something was going to go wrong grew to a new intensity inside of him.

He exited the car and readjusted the bag on his shoulder. The wooden weapons rattled inside but he paid little attention, the sound was easy to ignore when it was all you had heard for the last eight years. With his head held high he strode forward and made his way to the front door.

Before he had even gotten half way across the distance he noticed the girl sitting on the bench in front of him. It didn't take him long, no more than a few second, to recognise Kennedy. Memories of tantrums, bruises and language that he would never care to repeat flooded his mind and he could tell, with a sinking heart, that she was not in a good mood.


	8. What dreams are made from

**A/N two things, one I wanted to actually make the M rating worth while and two, I needed this to happen so I could do the next bit, enjoy and review**

Chapter 7: Dreams

_The kiss was hot and cold, soft and hard, powerful and gentle. It was taste, passion and feeling all wrapped up into one. Her hands felt skin that was feverish to touch and it ignited a fire within her that made her growl against her partner's mouth and her tongue tirelessly fought for dominance over the other. She was rewarded with moans and incoherent phrases that she knew would make anyone blush. There was no hesitation as she followed the other across the room and onto the bed._

_Few words passed between the pair but they knew what the other wanted before the other knew themselves, clothes were discarded onto the floor with minimal effort – they broke contact for mere seconds as t-shirts were pulled over heads – until two panting girls were left in their underwear, desperately touching and moving, barely allowing for oxygen to fill their lungs. Her fingers tangled in the brunette's hair and her mouth moved away from her partners face, gracing the creamy skin of her neck._

"_Willow," the brunette breathed, panting heavily. "Goddess Willow."_

_The red head grinned against her partners flesh. Her thin fingers traced patterns down the brunette's sides before following the white straps around her back. The bra came away easily, releasing her generous chest to the heated air. Willow's tongue trailed down her partner's neck and latched onto her right nipple. There was a sharp inhale from the girl and the red head couldn't help but bite down slightly – if only to see what other sounds she could create._

_Willow's hand moved slowly up the brunette's thigh, over the waistband of her panties, and along her stomach. Each movement caused a twitch under the red heads fingers, she knew exactly what to do and the brunette knew it. Her hand eventually reached its destination of the unattended breast. She palmed it and withdrew her mouth from her lover's chest. A moan rewarded her when she moved her leg between the brunettes, spreading them apart and pressing her thigh into her lovers heat._

_Her green eyes met blue as she looked up. "You're so beautiful Tara," she whispered._

_There was nothing but loved in her partners eyes. She felt as though she could lie there all day and just drown in them, she wanted nothing more than to just sink into the bottomless blue and stay there forever, but her hands had other ideas as they worked their way down to the waist band of the Tara's panties._

_Their eyes didn't move as the offending piece of clothing was removed. The red head's fingers skimmed over light brown curls. Willow pushed herself up with her free hand and their mouths reconnected, her tongue darted in and out in time with her fingers below. Each dip drew a moan from the brunette, muffled only by Willows mouth._

"_Willow," she mumbled. "Goddess Willow."_

_The red head paused, sensing her lovers rising ecstasy, it brought a growl of protest but all it did was make a silly grin spread across her face. "Tell me you love me," she pleaded softly._

_Tara didn't even hesitate. "I love you, so much, but darling I swear to the goddess of Rhamnous if you stop now I will resort to something drastic."_

_Willow giggled. "Promise?" _

_She lifted her head and locked eyes with her partner. Words became meaningless as unspoken messages passed between them. Time was forgotten, there was nowhere to be and nothing to do, and the only thing that mattered was right now, with them, together. Willows free hand cupped the brunette's cheek and she pressed her mouth to her partners. It was unhurried and full of feeling._

_The red heads fingers began to move in and out in time with their mouths. Tara's breathing became rapid again and she broke the kiss with a moan of pure pleasure. It didn't take Willow long with her skilled fingers inside of her lover to bring her to the edge again. Tara's muscles clenched around Willow and the red head matched her lover and began panting against her neck. "Goddess Willow!"_

"_Not quite a Goddess sweetie," Willow breathed. She paused and closed her eyes, she loved the way Tara felt against her, around her and her body melded to her lovers as the wave ended and the brunettes muscles relaxed under the red heads hands. Her fingers were withdrawn and tangled into the sheets to dry them._

"_I love you Tara," she whispered._

_There was no reply but Willow wasn't worried, she didn't know anyone who would have the ability of speech after what she just did. Her hand travelled away from the sheet and back up Tara's creamy stomach, she took her time and memorized every contour of the Wicca's body. Nimble fingers walked their way across the brunette's skin until they were circling her voluptuous breasts._

_Willow's brow furrowed when her fingers met moisture on Tara's chest. She could no longer feel her lover beneath her. Clothes reappeared._

"_What? Where am I?" she whispered._

_Daylight began to stream through the window; she was standing now, watching the brunette in front of her. There was a playful smile on her face as she played with the hem of her blue shirt. Willow lifted her hand to her face and found her fingers covered in a red liquid. Blood._

_She recoiled with a gasp and stared at them, confused and shocked. Suddenly she felt something hit her and when she looked down there was more blood. Tara's blood. Willow couldn't make sense of the situation, her head was spinning._

"_No, no, no," Willow cried. This was all so familiar. She looked up and the sight that met her eyes turned her heart to ice. There was a red circle on Tara's chest where her fingers had only been moments before._

_The brunette's sky eyes flicked between Willow's chest and her face. "Your shirt," she said._

_Willow was already by her side when the brunette's legs gave out and she caught her as she fell to the floor. The red head's eyes burned with tears. "Tara, baby? Baby come on, get up! No, no, no," she couldn't form words anymore, blood from the wound began to trickle across her shirt, and mixing with blue and white cotton, staining._

_A huge sob wracked her body. How did this happen? Just a minute ago they were happy, together, she could have sworn it. She would have sworn it on her life, on anything. Her heart shattered and rained into her stomach. She couldn't feel anything, didn't want to feel anything. Another sob escaped as she watched the light leave Tara's eyes._

"_Oh God, oh no, please come on. Come on Tara, please come on baby, Tara…"_

"_What did you just call me?"_

_Willow head snapped up. Kennedy stood, looking down at her on the floor. Tara was gone, the blood wasn't, and there was a murderous look in the young slayers eyes._

"_What? I don't…. Tara was just, and the blood…?" Willow babbled, furiously wiping tears from her face with quick movements. She could feel the blood leave trails on her skin but she didn't care._

_Kennedy took a step forward and lifted Willow to her feet by her arm. The red head was breathing rapidly and her eyes darted between the slayer, the floor and her clothes. Tara's blood. Kennedy._

"_Get over her," Kennedy growled. Willow's mouth opened and closed, like she wanted to speak but couldn't find the words to say. The slayer moved closer again and wrapped her fingers around the red heads upper arms. "Do you hear me Willow? She's dead!"_

"_No!"_

Willow woke with a scream. She was covered in a cold sweat and couldn't get her breath. There was a pain in her chest that was squeezing the life from her. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't get a full breath without a sharp strike beneath her ribs. Tears streamed freely in rivers down her face, sobs wracked her fragile little body and she shook violently.

It took her ten minutes to control herself. She had tangled her hands into the covers to stop them from shaking but her breathing was harder. The Wicca fell backwards and panted quietly, just staring at the ceiling. It was scary, dreaming out Tara's death again – because she hadn't in just over five months – it was so vivid.

What about Kennedy? Calling out Tara's name when Kennedy was there… she just couldn't make sense of it. Did she really feel Tara in the room?

"Was it just my imagination?"

She reached over to her bed side table and took the athame from her bedside table. It caught the moonlight from the bare window and cast a white light on the ceiling. The Wicca laid it against her stomach and the cool metal froze her skin. She closed her eyes and chanted a small spell. The knife glowed and began to grow hot. It no longer froze her skin but seared it. A smell of burning flesh made Willow wrinkle her nose, but she didn't remove the dagger.

"A junkie turned self-injurer, I sound like a teenage angst novel," she hissed. The red head moved the Athame over so that it began to burn a new stretch of skin. Its previous position began to pucker and blister but she ignored it. She was good at ignoring things. "A very strange teenage angst model, like those ones that are so ridiculous and unbelievable that you just have to read to the end," she paused, moving the dagger again. "I wonder what this is going to end like, I mean I did try to end the world, but there's no Xander here to save me now."

She laughed quietly to herself and ended the spell. Her skin was beginning to itch and sting but she couldn't bring herself to care. "Why am I alive? Any Goddesses listening? I kept Tara in danger, I tried to end the world, and I killed a man, I broken Kennedy's heart and then used magic on her, on innocent people. I abused magicks and brought Buffy back from heaven. Why am I here?"

Willow fingered the athame and turned it over in her hands. Fresh tears began to build up in her eyes. The point was now aimed over her chest. She wondered briefly if it would hurt to take matters into her own hands, because obviously the universe was just having too much fun watching her life get screwed over and over.

"Willow..."

Willow shot up and smack the back of her head off of the headboard in fright, the athame flew across the room and lay forgotten on the floor. She scanned the room with a confused expression but couldn't give the voice a face – and her head was beginning the throb. Did she imagine that voice too? Was she going insane?

"Willow…"

That voice was so familiar yet so scary at the same time. "Who's there? Come out!"

At the foot of her bed a ball of yellow light began to fade into existence. Willow watched with a frightened awe as a person took shape in the middle of her bedroom. The curves of the persons hips, the creamy white skin and the translucent blue eyes made the red heads breath catch in her throat. Flowing brown hair shimmered in the half light. It was odd though, because the figure was wearing jeans and a shirt. Willow had always imagined white robes and glowing wings – like in the fairy tales.

"T…Tara?" she whispered, barely daring to believe.

The brunette smiled as she finished coming into focus. "Hey."


	9. Authors notes

**A/N I'm not going to continue this version of this, I've decided that there are too many things going on and I'm not entirely sure where I want to go anyway, I might re write it at some point, but I think I'm going to stick to my Twillow fluff one shots for a bit. **


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